A catastrophic collision of two

merchant ships occurred in Mumbai

Port on 7th August 2010 which resulted

in spilling of about 800 t bunker oil and

tumbling of 293 cargo containers with

hazardous chemicals in the sea

Chellappan, Anulekshmi

Dash, Gyanaranjan

Deshmukh, V D

Singh, V V

CMFRI Digital Repository

11Cadalmin : CMFRI Newsletter No. 126Hazardousoil spill inMumbai Portand adjacentfishing areasA catastrophic collision of twomerchant ships occurred in MumbaiPort on 7th August 2010 which resultedin spilling of about 800 t bunker oil andtumbling of 293 cargo containers withhazardous chemicals in the sea. The oiland the spilled chemicals are hazardousto the inshore and nearshore fishing areasaround Mumbai while the sunken andfloating containers have threatenednavigational safety of several mechanizedand non-mechanized fishing boatsoperating in the harbour area.The bunker oil with longhydrocarbon chains (alkanes,cycloalkanes and aromatics) and thespilled chemicals (Aluminum phosphide,Parathion and sodium hydroxide) aretoxic to aquatic ecosystem and havetendency to accumulate in fish. Thesematerials by nature of their compositionwill have short term and long termimpacts on the coastal environment andfishery resources. The MaharashtraPollution Control Board (MPCB) hasanalyzed seawater samples from opensea to the inshore creeks and the basinof the port. The oil spill and fish landedfrom the affected areas were inspectedby the scientists of Mumbai ResearchCentre, which indicated that the oil spilland other chemicals spread over 3 coastaldistricts affecting 33 fishing villages. Owingto monsoon winds, tides and circulationa portion of the spilled oil entered thecreeks and rivers adjoining the harbourand spread along the inshore areas andthe mangrove swamps covering anestimated area of 56 km2. The oil spillhas occurred just when the mangroveseedlings are getting formed, whichusually start germinating soon after themonsoon. Clean up operations forremoval of oil from mangrove wereinitiated by the MPCB with the help offishing community and zapping withmicrobes by Tata Energy ResearchInstitute. As these mangrove swampsserve as nursery grounds for variety offishes and prawns the long term effectson the fishery could be distressing. Theclean up operations of mangroves,beaches and retrieval of containers weretaken up by the coast guard and theMumbai Port Trust under the supervisionof DG Shipping.Despite long lasting effects of oil spillon marine life, the effects on the fisheryresources were relatively short and nomass mortality of fish was reported in theaffected area. Most of the fin-fishesperhaps avoided the oil spill area andreturned after the spill drifted. However,stranding of about 100-150 sting rays(Himantura Uarnak) and a dolphin wasreported along the beaches at Uran andMandva respectively. The inner portionof the port where the spill drifted is theproductive fishing area for a large numberof small scale fishers, operating traditionalfishing gears and contrivances in creeksand inshore waters, especially duringmonsoon months when open sea fishingis suspended due to inclement weatherconditions. The area is known fordiversity of 73 species of fin fishes,crustaceans and molluscs. The prominentfish varieties in the fishing ground arepenaeid and non-penaeid shrimps,Bombay duck, golden anchovy, pomfrets,perches, croakers, ribbonfishes, catfishesand lobsters. Preliminary analysis offishery data for August 2010 showeddecrease in fishing effort by mechanizedvessels by 29% and decline in landingsby 6% while the non-mechanized fishingrecorded 49% decline in landings. Thebag net fishing in the harbour sufferedheavily as the landings in August 2010declined by 73.4% despite increase inaverage catch rate from 151.9 kg/unit(2005-2009) to 172.9 kg/unit. The valueof bag net catch in August 2010 recorded77% decline as compared to the samemonth of last year.The oil spill created panic among thefish eating public. Civic authority ofMumbai Municipal Corporationdisallowed landing of contaminated fishat the landing centres and wharfsimmediately after the spill. Owing to thisthe fish prices plummeted significantly by25-50%. Consequently, the fishermensuffered and lost livelihood means fromthe day of oil spill as the fish catch wascontaminated and navigation in the portarea was dangerous because of floatingand sunken cargo containers. Thepreventive orders and notifications fromvarious Government Agencies and widepublicity by media to refrain from eatingfish lead to poor consumer demand andsubsequently fall in fish prices.Although oil as such may not be highlytoxic, the spill with other chemicals andpesticides is likely to produce synergisticallyfar more hazardous long term impacts onthe marine ecosystem. Furtherinvestigations are being carried out by thescientists of Mumbai Research Centre.(Prepared by V. D. Deshmukh, V. V.Singh, Anulekshmi C. and GyanaranjanDash of Mumbai Research Centre ofCMFRI)Containers spilled from accident vessel MSC Chitra(Photo courtesy NDTV)Special News

Hazardous oil spill in Mumbai Port and adjacent fishing areas

A catastrophic collision of two

merchant ships occurred in Mumbai port on 7th August 2010 which resulted

in the spilling of about 800 t bunker oil and

tumbling of 293 cargo containers with

hazardous chemicals in the sea. The oil

and the spilled chemicals are hazardous

to the inshore and nearshore fishing areas

around Mumbai while the sunken and

floating containers have threatened

navigational safety of several mechanized

and non-mechanized fishing boats

operating in the harbour area

http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/6717/1/Hazardous_oil_spill.pdf

Hazardous oil spill in Mumbai Port and adjacent fishing areas

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